at midnight moscow time the syrian opposition says washington shouldn't label any group fighting the assad regime this terrorist that there's a massive blast rocks damascus. but does washington really care that the opposition they support is endorsing terrorists more details coming up. north korea's rocket blasts off a message of defiance pyongyang says it sent a weather satellite into space but it's enough to unnerve the region. and president putin bows to cage the corrupt and says it's time for the russians to seize the initiative in the country's development.

a lot of good morning see if you just joined us money kevin owen here in moscow this morning syria's main opposition coalition says the u.s. should reconsider its decision to out a leading rebel group to its terrorist list meanwhile several explosions struck outside the interior ministry building in damascus killing at least eleven of the u.s. became the latest country to endorse the opposition alliance the latest and from artie's garniture she can. it's clear that washington is trying to distance itself from extremists in syria they have designated a front a terrorist organization it's thought to be one of the most aggressive and ruthless groups currently involved in the conflict washington's decision to call them terrorists this seen as more of a symbolic move because many other fighters in syria possibly most of them welcome the efforts of those there's ignited terrorists efforts that include suicide bombings and killing a person in fact the leader of the very syrian opposition coalition which the u.s.

has just formally recognized and is supported by came out and asked the u.s. we consider their decision on almost right because they've been so helpful in the fight against take a listen here on. the decision of considering one of the factions fighting the regime is a terrorist organization should be reconsidered and we all manly love our country might differ with some groups in ideology and political views but we confirm that all the rifles of all the rebels are united and we aim at toppling a criminal regime. then the syrian opposition leader went on to talk about how or when there is in their fight he says quote martyrdom for the sake of all law has always been the main motive for people's freedom and approach so that's the idea of freedom that the leader of the syrian rebels has ensured the u.s. is supporting the syrian rebels and their aspirations for freedom while the rebels there are thinking and the latest from damascus is that this wednesday an explosion

targeted the syrian interior ministry we don't know whether it was the almost a front door another rebel organization behind it what we do know that it was a massive explosion three explosions rather there has been many blast like that in the past mostly suicide bombings and in this report i'm taking a closer look at the rebels in syria. they call themselves martyrs. all those you see around you the fighters. see are living martyrs and the living martyr has already sacrificed a soul for this country but syrian rebels say they will stop at nothing to defeat us out. some of them are so proud of their deeds that they post them on the web including the execution of prisoners. or having a child behead a man who was presumably an assault supporter atrocities are committed on all fronts during syria's bloody civil war according to many accounts on the ground

it's islamic groups that do most of the fighting on behalf of the rebels dr tatar we come meet was a member of a jihadi spoken ization twenty five years ago he later became a vocal opponent of radical islam jihad this have no problem to be had people alive you deal with people like bin ladin and there are because of al qaida who have no his e.t.a. shin to use any form of whip around to to to really. control any place. religious believes and ideology representatives of opposition fighters came together in turkey last friday to form a unified command with the support of the so-called friends of syria including the gulf states the u.s. the u.k. and friends one of the delegates at the meeting says two thirds of the islamist dominated anti assad groups have ties to the muslim brotherhood and salafist people here in washington don't seem to understand that if you don't like the government in karo or if you do like the government in cairo i guess i should say then you

will love the government the comes to power in damascus because you will see a sunni muslim islamised government a muslim brotherhood style government that is absolutely intolerant fundamentally hostile to the west washington has failed to officially denounce the many suicide bombings perpetrated by the rebels in syria preferring to focus on the wrongs committed by the assad regime alone the u.s. is also ramping up the rhetoric about the possibility of the assad government using chemical weapons against civilians. something that damascus says would be suicidal on the other hand many rebels are not averse to the idea of suicide in the name of what they call holy war militants have recently taken control of a toxic chemical plant in the country's second city of aleppo a video was uploaded to youtube showing them testing chemical weapons on rabbits we could not independently verify the authenticity of the footage. you will die like rabbits in its own words the assad government is fighting terrorists that battle

has claimed thousands of innocent lives the measures the syrian government resorted to have been widely criticized but there's that crisis mean the world should keep their eyes shocked at who's actually fighting for power in syria now in washington i'm going to check on. new clubs contributor for britain's guardian newspaper he told me the official recognition is actually benefit president more than his opponents. do you think about all the way line status said that the opposition are really the tools of the western powers negotiate so this sort of proves that president assad is able to say he's a sort of. syria is an independent sovereign nation think this will actually bolster his support within the country and i think the basic problem that the rebels have got yes they've been recognized by the u.s. by france by the basic problem however remains they don't have to dorothy says where it matters that's within syria the syrian people don't respect to look for george i'm going to support them i think back in september we had a rebel commander to vote for them only the fact that in seventy percent of the

people with a sad and so that's the basic problem for us it is hypocritical because yes they've taken a starts now and it's the our there's a restaurant which is committees where those he misses most appalling crimes in syria in the last few months however the f.s.a. has also been committing some terrible crimes and the u.s. hasn't out all that has it at all so i think you know i think i think you know the name of the game is a violent regime change this is the only way that the western powers in the gulf states can bring about a change in damascus through violence. north korea has successfully launched a rocket to find warnings from its neighbors and the united states is the second term this year after a failure back in april the young says it sent a weather satellite into orbit but washington seoul and tokyo planes test a long range missile technology and the e.u. is now threatening first centuries and send them all to violated international law as it's banned from conducting ballistic missile test by the u.n. and the security council to condemn the launch it's now considering what it calls

quote an appropriate response north korea expert professor what a good friend told us the pressure on peering in the past those never yielded any results before. sanctions or scores of appropriate means to show your political dissatisfaction but the terms of the effect that if they are almost useless and serves at last career social circle applied for decades. ago the last time. to find ways around those sanctions though humanitarian concerns is the allies the trying to so i think sanctions of more or less the symbolical function but they will have little actual effect so little korea whether it's a rocket or missile is definitely a question of interpretation from a political perspective because technically both devices live you say is the difference is what the pay a little bit you put it. it's a rocket you put in you feel warhead on top it's a missile basically it's a safe thing to go to the u.n. to see a resolution dogood is its opposition and i'm the legal expert but it is also if he

doesn't believe of this resolution it is unlawful to prohibit. all of that launchers for peaceful purposes frankly speaking i do nothing to believe that north korea tends and all of its help on its neighbors this program including nuclear program house purely defensive and in terms of purposes it's no sides are interested how war because if you go war in korea both careers election is off for a lot as long as the regime is stable in north korea i guess i should keep pushing there is no immediate danger of a war breaking out reporting very soon tonight president putin promising that no corrupt official politician will go off on a flight to the about the crackdown the russian leader vowed during his first address since returning from there. and the u.k. is he's going to step up to revive its flag and pony but the rich can rest in peace tonight the government's going to be targeting the poorest but that means they

spread. the san bernardino california police force left to shrink by eighty officers this year to cover their budget deficit during a local meeting the chief of police laid out this. these problems the see is facing waves of gang violence theft and drug trafficking but with all the prisons completely overcrowded many of these criminals go right back on to the street and there's just nobody to put more police out there to fight them the police chief really only had one solution offer a given situation go home lock your doors and load it and you know what actually that's not that bad of a proposition america has always been a country where people been expected to look out for themselves and i appreciate the police chief's honesty but i know the world we live in and i have a feeling that the second some homeowner shoots

a guy who jumps over his fence at night that homeowners are going to go to jail for life you can expect that a nineteenth century attitude towards crime will be able to work in a twenty first century world where rapists can sue you because they slipped on your slippery kitchen floor if you want people to be able to defend themselves that's great but you have to allow them the legal liberty to do so or else the criminals will just take over but that's just my opinion. more news today violence has once again flared up. these are the images from world history of canada. showing up for a show to rule the day. you.

we could know if you. choose to use the consensus here to. choose the opinions that. choose the stories that impact your life. choose the access to. download the official. language stream quality and enjoy your favorite. t.v. is not required to watch on t.v. all you need is your mobile device to watch on t.v. any time. you know sometimes you see a story and it seems so you think you understand it and then something else you

hear or see some other part of it and realize everything you thought. i'm tom harpur welcome to the big picture. again of the media crackdown on corruption in russia with tough pressure on old official suspect the wrongdoings president focus strongly on how to solve problems at home than in his first address since returning to the top job. more of what the russian leader outlined. several years ago when former president medvedev addressed russia's lawmakers this signaled major constitutional changes for the country with the presidential term being extended to six years this time when president putin delivered his first annual address after returning to the kremlin for the third

time it rang no major sensations nor political changes but at the same time this speech was even more significant as some have already said than many others before this time put in barely spoke about any foreign policy issue the main focus was on domestic problems in russia and there have been reclaimed according to russia's president in fact he started his speech by saying it is now or never as the world is going through a crisis russia must stand up to all these challenges and the first and the most correct way to do that is to invest into you know it was richard is the what's the as of today the percentage of healthy active able bodied people in russia aged between twenty to forty is one of the highest in the world twenty years time economically active population could shrink by fifty percent less we do something this trend will continue but you either we provide jobs give opportunities to

create business build families raise children be happy just a few decades russia will become a poor country populated by an elderly generation incapable of preserving its own territory but probably the biggest problem dragging russia back for the past two decades has been corruption among the higher echelons which by the way that is because the largest probably the largest chunk of the speech was dedicated to this burning issue that is clear is that probably the toughest message coming out from the russian president this time on the fight against corruption was that no official regardless of how high should he or she is can feel safe from punishment if he or she is found in embezzlement or any corrupt actions in there go. mental bodies so tough was put in on the issue that sometimes it seemed that he was not speaking to the whole country or for the whole world to listen but he was addressing the people directly in this particular hole those who gathered to listen

to what he had to say russia's lawmakers people from the cultural sears and military coup or david in order that we could you know when you can how can people trust an official or a politician who talks a lot about the good of russia at the same time trying to take his money out of the country i ask you to support the bill to limit the amount of foreign accounts and staunch that officials and politicians can have. because you. don't applaud yet maybe you would like everything i have to say in just one week's time i didn't put in we'll be holding an annual press conference for the world media and the eyes of the entire planet will again be on the russian president let's see russia r.t. reporting from inside the kremlin while president putin also talked about russia's efforts to minimize the effects of the global financial crisis on the country to russia expert martin mccauley told me moscow is in

a good position to help combat the worldwide downturn. moscow is trying to set up a world financial center and this week some of the experts from moscow and some of the bankers a bit in london are discussing how this can be done so russia wants to become a center for. finance financial investment financial center so money pours into russia and therefore it can then be invested in the russian economy that's a step forward russia has a bounce of paper surplus and so on to this is a very happy position and. other countries of the european union america britain on a very very difficult position and russia perhaps can lend some money international monetary fund the world bank and so on but russia at present is a very very healthy position from a financial point of view. martha macauley with me last palestinians are giving a whole new meaning to launching

a perf you clever bit of marketing this or is it would you buy it well it's called the m seventy five a fragrance with fire power they say named the rocket the guardian used against israel's reason their offensive reported that online is a curious part of marketing and facebook we're hearing now encroaching on privacy by scrapping that feature that allows users to hide their profiles from the web site search facility want to read up more you can from us no holds barred r t dot com. after a peaceful twenty four hours violence has suddenly returned to the streets of belfast in northern ireland around under fifty miles loyalists are in a standoff with police then raged over a decision to limit the amount of days the u.k. flag can fly above belfast city hall been following the story all week there's talk now to make phil t.'s renowned political blogger in northern ireland joining us from from the u.k. at the moment hi there mick good to see you i mean violence has thankfully been rare in recent years we all recall those things back in the seventy's and eighty's

but any resurgence of course raises fears that the troubles never really went far away do you think the efforts and the money spent to bring peace have been in vain . but i don't think you are being very and i think we have to get the current violence of the some kind of perspective. partly because it's happening in december it's winter time it's very cold on the streets that keeps numbers keeps enthusiasm going to some extent and also to be able to say and therefore it could be worse. it could it could be worse and it could get worse but at the moment we're not seeing anything like the scale of violence that we had before the peace process began and i think it is important disturbing notice this violence isn't disturbing to me because it has a very strong political roots much more subtle than some of the other disturbances we've seen over the last. few years in the sense that was causing the cause in the

following days disaffection between the two major parties at stormont the two people who were actually finally respond for the peace process process era government in northern ireland but yet it's nothing on the troubles that caused the death of over three thousand seven hundred people over over to you twenty five year period as we head into a new year so it's good to take stock think about what's going to come of the next twelve months what do you think what if you were to gauge the opinion on the street of republicans what is their feeling indeed what's the feeling about this latest unrest. i think i think it's interesting. in the sense that many of the problems that drove the troubles themselves have not being resolved and for many republicans particularly those of. a more sort of. physical force tradition. are very much of the view that they're still locked

inside the united kingdom recent census results also kind of heightened some disturbance i think on the outside in the sense that people. only twenty four percent of northern irish people define themselves as solely irish forty percent berish twenty percent northern irish so the republicans particularly i think playing themselves in a position where they perhaps feel locked into the united kingdom in ways that they haven't experienced in a month this year and aren't feeling too good whether with the guts enough. to restart the troubles i don't get very much we still have a generation of people who remember the trouble is i don't think there's a great opportunity for going back i want to what are the chances of violence from their side say if the unions do get their way into the day and keep that u.k. flag flying twenty four seven across the aisle we get some portion of the stand at the moment the threat is not coming from republicans the threat is coming from

loyalists i'm actually the fly cousin completely comes out of the hands some of this the black comedy around this is that actually the fly is only being flown is most of this is a book you know. the first summer. following. so it just shows you the sense of the still are even after twelve years of normalized deciding oh oh oh how being so much fun civilities. symbolism i'm going. to have the power to really get blood going to put this into perspective is a question often asked by a lot of our four of you is that right into his union this low to the u.k. are behind these. rallies but is there were new to anger in any way to anxiety from the separatism movement as we've been reporting on the new york been talking about he or not what's happening in scotland that referendum rule is really cannot. and it all. the dynamics are slightly different i think most unionists have decided

that it's better politics to to keep their noses out of the scottish discussion ironically if you look at it from. a cultural or a traditional point if you're really been a lot of linkages between the auster protestants of northern ireland and the largely protestant country of of scotland so there are some there are certain fellow feeling with scotland book but are the northern ireland is a very different very different spheres with very different sort of politics the scots have this underlying sect the some sectarianism there but it isn't it's not written into the politics in the way that the politics of northern ireland is completely underwritten by my religious identity if you like me the party which proposed the flag changes in the first place has offered a compromise to fly that flag a bit more but that was still not enough for the loyalists if you are in charge what solution would you put forward. i think about this but george the first thing

i know is my resignation. but i think this is this is just something he's going to run and run i think i think also i'm just this is i mean although people are really sensitive this is just about a fly it's not about social deprivation but perhaps there are many things that so many people in the town ought to be still angry about in terms of social deprivation it's a butterfly what's happening here is that the grind of course is beginning to narrow narrow narrow remains very intense. it's not thing like people are not nothing like as far apart from each other as they were back in one nine hundred sixty nine when all of this really kicked off it's good to hear thanks a bit on the program i wish all of us for christmas except mick keelty their political blog one or the thank you. there's. the british government is promising

its economy can be steadily revived how well it's pensioners and young mothers apparently going to pay the prices artie's polyploid have found that the cost of recovery will mean penny pinching from the poorest. the brits have got it coming or off to some talks to attack some welfare that's going to see those with the least squeeze the most so while the treasury chief admits millionaires are about to get an average tax cut of their one hundred thousand pounds a year from next april it's the less fortunate who bear the brunt of dealing with the u.k.'s ten billion pound welfare bill but the cuts will come in disguise take for example the new so-called bedroom tax tenants in council housing will get less than benefits if their state funded accommodation is deemed too big for them some local authorities already say that could push up to four thousand people into homelessness especially as they're already being squeezed with an increased cost of

living that's making christmas tough in many households the government insists it needs to fix public finances and that means cuts among various with too little to spare the chancellor has really made the main target of his austerity the poorest families he's cutting the support received both for the working poor three tax credits and so on and also for the for those on able to work it's not just bedrooms being taxed but motherhood as well last week the chancellor announced that maternity pay would be capped meaning that pregnant women will be almost two hundred pounds worse off starting next year opposition labor m.p.'s have labelled it the mummy tax and an unprecedented raid on families and that soft to those at the other end of the age scale were left reeling this year from the granny tax leaving pension as a further three hundred pounds out of pocket and

a winter of worry ahead david cameron might have promised to be the best family friendly government ever but with friends like that who needs enemies. they're saying that inroads now right now because of course katie said of course the business most introducer if you didn't know she is. a new man in charge of the russian oil company in charge of the human resources department why is that news well they are seeking that it's that because he used to be the head of the federal prison service. saying everyone the best they disappear and then if they step in he's going to know what to do or that. it's coming out and if this is put in our back. flying north with me in this old soviet work or so the helicopter is doctors landed near brodsky and his team from the regions medical aviation service we head across

ever more barren tundra higher and higher into russia's arctic far north until eventually we see our landing spot with arrive at this tiny village after crossing hundreds of kilometers of snow a world of us as a boy here suffering and the doctors are going to see what they can do. inside a small building not one but two babies and their parents are waiting for us the doctors inspect them but can't make a diagnosis and decide to bring them to a regional hospital for better can spread lana doesn't like taking her baby away from home but she's been before and degrees to go that's the usual practice with those who leave and they keep mothers with their newborns in hospital for a month. on the way back another stop to check on the health of some native nets reindeer herders out in the tundra it can take many hours to reach the nearest village so our medical problems simply fixed here in the tent that. they used to be

but now we can go to civilized places so we call for emergency help. back at hospital other patients helped by the air ambulance are being treated the service costs forty million dollars a year to run and there's been controversy with some claiming that locals exaggerate or make up health problems and use the helicopters as a free taxi service accusations vladimir firmly dismisses it is not true usually the calls are perfectly justified sometimes we even reproach locals for waiting too long before calling us he's been working as a doctor now for forty three years but vladimir is confident the diva after he retires his helicopter doctors will remain a lifeline to the peoples of the russian far north.